Disposable mask equipped with plastic bag

ABSTRACT

Provided is a disposable mask equipped with a plastic bag, which is easily disposed of by sealing a mask body with the plastic bag after use of the mask body. The disposable mask includes an outshell and a lining which are integrally formed into one body by thermal bonding. The disposable mask includes a mask body having an oblong shape and including a wire disposed at the upper side thereof and adhering the mask body closely to the face of a user in accordance with the facial contour and ear bands disposed at both sides of the mask body, and a plastic bag disposed between the outshell and the lining at the upper side of the mask body and allowing the mask body to be hygienically disposed of after use.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0101854, filed onJul. 17, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disclosed herein relates a disposable maskequipped with a plastic bag, and more particularly, to a disposable maskwhich can be easily disposed of by sealing a mask body with the plasticbag after use of the mask body.

Recently, the number of people who have allergic disease such asrhinitis and bronchial asthma are increasing, and the cause of allergicdisease is allergen, and only the currently known number of allergens'species reaches about two hundreds.

Viral infection cases together with these allergic diseases are alsoincreasing. The typical viruses that threaten people's health areInfluenza virus and MERS Virus. These viruses contain DNA or RNA as anucleic acid component, and are structures parasitic and proliferated inthe living cells. Also, on account of air-viral infection or dropletinfection, viral infection easily spreads especially in case of driedair.

As preventive measures for allergic diseases and viral infection, thesimplest and effective way is to wear a disposable mask. However,typical disposable masks are only able to physically block allergens,and active allergens and viruses may remain on the mask. For thisreason, the active allergens and viruses may infiltrate into the humanbody, and particularly, when a user takes off a mask, the risk ofinfection is very high.

That is, when a disposable mask is discarded without any measure upondisposal, allergens and viruses may be exposed to air and dispersed intoair, causing dangerousness of secondary infection. Accordingly, a methodof safely disposing of used disposable masks safely is needed so as notto expose and disperse allergens and viruses to air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a disposable mask equipped with a plasticbag, which can be easily disposed of by sealing a mask body with theplastic bag after use of the mask body.

Embodiments of the present invention provide disposable masks equippedwith a plastic bag including: a mask body including an outshell and alining attached to each other and including ear bands allowing the maskbody to be worn on the ears of a user; and a plastic bag disposedbetween the outshell and the lining of the mask body so as tohygienically dispose of the mask body after use.

In some embodiments, the disposable mask may include a wire disposed inan upper side of the mask body and adhering the mask body closely to theface of a user in accordance with a facial contour of a user.

In other embodiments, the outshell or the lining of the mask body mayhave a cutting line formed thereon and removing the wire from the maskbody.

In still other embodiments, the plastic bag may be fixedly disposed inthe outshell or the lining of the mask body while being folded.

In even other embodiments, the mask body may have an oblong shape, andthe plastic bag may be disposed at an edge of the mask body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrateexemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with thedescription, serve to explain principles of the present invention. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a disposable mask equippedwith a plastic bag according to an embodiment of the present invention;and

FIGS. 2A to 2E are views illustrating a process of disposing of adisposable mask equipped with a plastic bag according to an embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The presentinvention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not beconstructed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present inventionto those skilled in the art.

Also, parts irrelevant to the description of the present invention willbe omitted for clarification of description, and like parts areindicated as like reference numerals throughout the specification.

Furthermore, when it is described that one comprises (or includes orhas) some elements, it should be understood that it may comprise (orinclude or has) only those elements, or it may comprise (or include orhave) other elements as well as those elements if there is no specificlimitation.

Hereinafter, it will be described about an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a disposable mask equippedwith a plastic bag according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIGS. 2A to 2E are views illustrating a process of disposing of adisposable mask equipped with a plastic bag according to an embodimentof the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a disposable mask 1 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention may include a mask body 10 and a plastic bag 20.The mask body 10 may be worn on the face of a user to prevent dusts orharmful substances from being introduced into the body through therespiratory organ or prevent a virus of a disease which a user has fromcoming out of the body. The plastic bag 20 may enable the disposal ofthe mask body 10 after use.

Here, the mask body 10 may include an outshell formed of a syntheticresin film and a lining formed of a non-woven fabric having airpermeability which are integrally formed into one body by, for example,thermal bonding. The mask body 10 may interrupt the passage of fineparticles, and may include a wire 11 disposed at the upper side thereofand an ear band 12 fixedly disposed at both sides thereof

In this case, the wire 11 may have flexibility so as to be deformablearound the nose in accordance with the curvatures of the face when auser applies a force while wearing the mask body 10 on his/her face, andthe ear band 12 may have elasticity so as to be adjustable in length.

The mask body 10 may have a cutting line 10 a formed on the outshell orthe lining on which the wire 11 is disposed, and the cutting line 10 amay be provided to conveniently remove the wire 11 when the mask body 10is disposed of after use.

When the cutting line 10 a is not formed and thus the wire 11 is notsmoothly removed, it may be difficult to open the outshell and thelining which are thermally bonded to each other in order to take theplastic bag 20 out of the mask body 10, and it may be difficult to sealthe plastic bag 20. Accordingly, the cutting line 10 a may be formed onthe outshell or the lining on which the wire 10 is disposed, such thatthe wire 11 can be conveniently and quickly removed from the mask body10.

Meanwhile, the plastic bag 20 may be disposed between the outshell andthe lining at the upper side of the mask body 10 in order to contain themask body 10 after use of the mask body 10. The plastic bag 20 may beformed of a material containing starch, e.g., corn starch in order toreduce the environmental contamination upon disposal, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. More specifically, the plastic bag 20may be manufactured by mixing polyvinyl chloride resin, vegetable starchand plasticizer. Examples of vegetable starches may include rice, wheat,corn, potato, and sweet potato starches, and may include at least one ofoxidized starch, acid-treated starch, starch ester, starch ether,crosslinked starch, and hydroxyalkyl starch. Meanwhile, polyvinylchloride resin may be manufactured by mixing at least one componentselected from the group consisting of lubricant, thermal stabilizer,light stabilizer, weather-resistant stabilizer, processing aid, siliconepreparation, antioxidant, antistatic agent, pigment and dye, anti-wearagent, inorganic filler, releasing agent and antimicrobial. Also, theplasticizer may include at least one component selected from the groupconsisting of phthalic acid ester plasticizer, aromatic carboxylic acidester plasticizer, aliphatic dibase acid ester plasticizer, phosphateester plasticizer, and epoxy plasticizer.

When the mask body 10 is used, the outshell and the lining of the maskbody 10 may be stained with contaminants. When contaminants are leftunattended, various kinds of bacteria and viruses may be distributed.Accordingly, various kinds of bacteria and viruses need to be preventedfrom spreading, by containing the mask body 10 in the plastic bag 20.

The plastic bag 20 may be fixedly installed while being folded insidethe outshell or lining of the mask body 10. The size of the plastic bag20 may not be limited, but may be manufactured to be two-thirds of thesize of the mask body 10 so as to minimize the volume and contain onlythe mask body 10. The plastic bag 20 may be disposed at the edge of themask body 10 having an oblong shape. In this embodiment, the plastic bag20 is exemplified as being fixedly installed on the outshell or liningof the mask body 10, but may also be maintained to be inserted into aspace between the outshell and the lining of the mask body 10.

If the plastic bag 20 is installed while being spread out between theoutshell and the lining of the mask body 10, a user may not smoothlybreathe due to the plastic bag 20 when a user wears the mask body 10,and the plastic bag 20 may generate a sound whenever a wearer breathes.Accordingly, the plastic bag 20 may be installed so as to be folded inthe mask body 10 in order not to interrupt breathing of a user.

Hereinafter, a process of disposing of the disposable mask 1 after usewill be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2E.

First, the wire 11 may be pulled out of the mask body 10 through thecutting line 10 a formed on the mask body 10, and thus may be separatedfrom the mask body 10.

Thereafter, the upper side of the mask body 10 may be opened such thatthe plastic bag 20 installed between the outshell and the lining of themask body 10 can be taken out. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2B, thewire 11 removed from the mask body 10 may be utilized.

The upper side of the mask body 10 may be opened, and then the plasticbag 20 which is installed while being folded between the outshell andthe lining at the upper side of the mask body 10 may be taken out andunfolded at the outside of the mask body 10.

When the plastic bag 20 is unfolded at the outside of the mask body 10,the plastic bag 20 may be turned inside out to contain the mask body 10that is used.

When the mask body 10 is contained in the plastic bag 20, the open inletof the plastic bag may be sealed using the wire that is separated, andthen the mask body 10 may be disposed of.

In this embodiment, the plastic bag 20 is exemplified as being installedbetween the outshell and the lining at the upper side of the mask body10, but may be installed at any location of the edge of the mask body 10unless the plastic bag 20 interrupts breathing of a user. Also, theplastic bag 20 may be disposed at a location where the plastic bag 20does not interrupt adhering of the mask body 10 closely to the face of auser while not interrupting breathing of a user in accordance with thecompressible degree of the plastic bag 20.

Also in this embodiment, the wire 11 is exemplified as being providedfor the disposable mask 1, but the wire 11 may be selectively applied tothe disposable mask 1.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since a plastic bagis provided in a mask body such that the mask body can be sealed anddisposed of using the plastic bag after use, there is no need to worryabout secondary infection by various kinds of bacteria and viruses lefton the mask, and epidemic bacteria and viruses can be prevented fromspreading, thereby enabling very hygienic disposal of the mask body.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable mask equipped with a plastic bagcomprising: a mask body comprising an outshell and a lining attached toeach other and comprising ear bands allowing the mask body to be worn onthe ears of a user; and a plastic bag disposed between the outshell andthe lining of the mask body so as to hygienically dispose of the maskbody after use.
 2. The disposable mask of claim 1, comprising a wiredisposed in an upper side of the mask body and adhering the mask bodyclosely to the face of a user in accordance with a facial contour of auser.
 3. The disposable mask of claim 2, wherein the outshell or thelining of the mask body has a cutting line formed thereon and removingthe wire from the mask body.
 4. The disposable mask of claim 1, whereinthe plastic bag is fixedly disposed in the outshell or the lining of themask body while being folded.
 5. The disposable mask of claim 4, whereinthe mask body has an oblong shape, and the plastic bag is disposed at anedge of the mask body.